Al-Qur'an Surah Al-An'am Verse 25

Mufti Taqi Usmani

There are those among them who (apparently) listen to you, but We have put coverings on their hearts, so that they do not understand, and heaviness in their ears. If they were to see all the signs, they would still not believe in them, so much so that, when they come to quarrel with you, the disbelievers say (of the Qur’ān), “It is nothing but tales of the ancients.”

Dr. Mustafa Khattab, the Clear Quran

There are some of them who ˹pretend to˺ listen to your recitation ˹of the Quran˺, but We have cast veils over their hearts—leaving them unable to comprehend it—and deafness in their ears. Even if they were to see every sign, they still would not believe in them. The disbelievers would ˹even˺ come to argue with you, saying, “This ˹Quran˺ is nothing but ancient fables!”

Ruwwad Translation Center

There are some among them who listen to you, but We have placed covers on their hearts so that they do not understand it, and deafness in their ears. Even if they were to see every sign, they would still not believe in them. When they come to you arguing, the disbelievers say, “This is nothing but ancient fables.”

A. J. Arberry

And some of them there are that listen to thee, and We lay veils upon their hearts lest they understand it, and in their ears heaviness; and if they see any sign whatever, they do not believe in it, so that when they come to thee they dispute with thee, the unbelievers saying, 'This is naught but the fairy-tales of the ancient ones.'

Abdul Haleem

Among them are some who [appear to] listen to you, but we have placed covers over their hearts- so they do not understand the Quran- and deafness in their ears. Even if they saw every sign they would not believe in them. So, when they come to you, they argue with you: the disbelievers say, ‘These are nothing but ancient fables,’

Abdul Majid Daryabadi

And of them are some who hearken unto thee and We have set over their hearts veils lest they understand it, and in their ears heaviness, and though they see any sign they will not believe therein: in as much as when they come to thee, they dispute with thee. Then who disbelieve say: this is naught but the fables of the ancients.

Abdullah Yusuf Ali

Of them there are some who (pretend to) listen to thee; but We have thrown veils on their hearts, So they understand it not, and deafness in their ears; if they saw every one of the signs, not they will believe in them; in so much that when they come to thee, they (but) dispute with thee; the Unbelievers say; "These are nothing but tales of the ancients."

Abul Ala Maududi

And of them there are some who appear to pay heed to you, but upon their hearts We have laid coverings so they understand it not; and in their ears, heaviness (so they hear not). Even if they were to witness every sign, they would still not believe in it so much so that when they come to you, they dispute with you, those who disbelieve contend: 'This is nothing but fables of the ancient times.'

Ahmed Ali

There are some among them who listen to you; but We have put a covering on their hearts so that they fail to understand it, and a deafness appears in their ears. Even if they saw all the signs they would not believe in them; and even when they come to you to dispute with you, the unbelievers say: "This is nothing but fables of antiquity."

Ahmed Raza Khan

And among them is one who listens to you; and We have put covers upon their hearts so they may not understand it, and deafness in their ears; and (even) if they see all the signs, they will not believe in them; to the extent that when they come to you to debate with you, the disbelievers say, “This is nothing but stories of former people.”

Ali Quli Qarai

There are some of them who prick up their ears at you, but We have cast veils on their hearts lest they should understand it, and a deafness into their ears; and though they should see every sign, they will not believe in it. When they come to you, to dispute with you, the faithless say, ‘These are nothing but myths of the ancients.’

Ali Ünal

There are among them such as could not help but listen to you (reciting the Qur’an), but We have laid veils over their hearts (made by their ill-intention, wrongdoing, and arrogance, which caused them to lose the capacity to believe) so that they do not comprehend it (and so cannot believe), and in their ears, heaviness: even if they see whatever manifest sign (pointing to God’s Unity and other truths of faith), they will not believe in it – so much so that when they come to you (only in order) to dispute with you, they, who have disbelieved, say: "This is nothing but fables of the ancients."

Amatul Rahman Omar

Some of these (disbelievers pretend to) listen to you but We have put veils over their hearts (due to their own hard-heartedness) that they do not understand and there is heaviness in their ears (to listen to the truth). Even if they see every sign (of Ours), they would not believe therein: (their hard-heartedness has reached) such an extent that when they come to you, they dispute with you. Those who disbelieve say, `This (Qur´ân) is nothing but fables of the ancients.´

English Literal

And from them who listens to you, and We put on their hearts/minds covers/protections, that they (not) understand/learn it, and in their ears deafness/heaviness, and if they see every evidence/sign/verse, they do not believe with it until when/if they came to you arguing/disputing with you, those who disbelieved, say: "That that (is) except the first`s/beginner`s myths ."

Faridul Haque

And among them is one who listens to you; and We have put covers upon their hearts so they may not understand it, and deafness in their ears; and (even) if they see all the signs, they will not believe in them; to the extent that when they come to you to debate with you, the disbelievers say, “This is nothing but stories of former people.”

Hamid S. Aziz

They forbid it and they avoid it; but they destroy none but their own souls, though they perceive not.

Hilali & Khan

And of them there are some who listen to you; but We have set veils on their hearts, so they understand it not, and deafness in their ears; if they see every one of the Ayat (proofs, evidences, verses, lessons, signs, revelations, etc.) they will not believe therein; to the point that when they come to you to argue with you, the disbelievers say: "These are nothing but tales of the men of old."

Maulana Mohammad Ali

See how they lie against their own souls, and that which they forged shall fail them!

Mohammad Habib Shakir

And of them is he who hearkens to you, and We have cast veils over their hearts lest they understand it and a heaviness into their ears; and even if they see every sign they will not believe in it; so much so that when they come to you they only dispute with you; those who disbelieve say: This is naught but the stories of the ancients.

Mohammed Marmaduke William Pickthall

Of them are some who listen unto thee, but We have placed upon their hearts veils, lest they should understand, and in their ears a deafness. If they saw every token they would not believe therein; to the point that, when they come unto thee to argue with thee, the disbelievers say: This is naught else than fables of the men of old.

Muhammad Sarwar

Some of them listen to you, but We have veiled their hearts so that they cannot understand and made them deaf. They disbelieve all the evidence (of Our existence) that they may have seen. They only come to you for the sake of argument and the disbelievers say that (whatever Muhammad says) is no more than ancient legends.

Qaribullah & Darwish

Some of them listen to you. But We have cast veils over their hearts lest they understand it and in their ears heaviness; and if they see every sign they do not believe in it. When they come to you they argue, the unbelievers say: 'This is nothing but the tales of the ancient ones'

Safi-ur-Rahman al-Mubarakpuri

And of them there are some who listen to you; but We have set veils on their hearts, so they understand it not, and deafness in their ears; if they see every one of the Ayat they will not believe therein; to the point that when they come to you to argue with you, those who disbelieve say: "These are nothing but tales of the men of old."

Wahiduddin Khan

Among them are some who listen to you, but We have placed veils over their hearts and deafness in their ears which prevent them from understanding what you say. Even if they saw all the signs, they would still not believe in them. When those who deny the truth come to dispute with you, they will say, "This is nothing but ancient fables,"

Talal Itani

Among them are those who listen to you; but We place covers over their hearts, to prevent them from understanding it, and heaviness in their ears. Even if they see every sign, they will not believe in it. Until, when they come to you, to argue with you, those who disbelieve will say, “These are nothing but myths of the ancients.”

Tafsir jalalayn

And there are some of them who listen to you, when you recite, and We have placed veils, covers, upon their hearts so that they do not understand it, [so that] they [do not] comprehend the Qur'n; and in their ears a heaviness, a deafness, so that they do not hear it with a willingness to accept it. And if they were to see every sign, they would not believe in it, so that when they come to you to argue with you, the disbelievers say, `This, Qur'n, is nothing but the fables, the lies, of the ancients', similar to [their] jokes and strange tales (astr, `fables', is the plural of ustra).

Tafseer Ibn Kathir

وَمِنْهُم مَّن يَسْتَمِعُ إِلَيْكَ وَجَعَلْنَا عَلَى قُلُوبِهِمْ أَكِنَّةً أَن يَفْقَهُوهُ

And of them there are some who listen to you; but We have set veils on their hearts, so they understand it not,

means, they come to you, (O Muhammad ), so that they hear you recite the Qur'an, but its recitation does not benefit them, because Allah has set veils on their hearts, and so they do not understand the Qur'an,

وَفِي اذَانِهِمْ وَقْرًا

and (set) deafness in their ears;

that prevents them from hearing what benefits them.

In another Ayah, Allah said;

وَمَثَلُ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُواْ كَمَثَلِ الَّذِى يَنْعِقُ بِمَا لَا يَسْمَعُ إِلاَّ دُعَأءً وَنِدَاءً

And the example of those who disbelieve, is as that of him who shouts at one who hears nothing but calls and cries. (2;171)

Allah said next,

وَإِن يَرَوْاْ كُلَّ ايَةٍ لاَّ يُوْمِنُواْ بِهَا

if they see every one of the Ayat they will not believe therein;

meaning, they will not believe in any of the Ayat, proofs, clear evidences and signs they witness because they do not have sound comprehension or fair judgment.

In another Ayah, Allah said,

وَلَوْ عَلِمَ اللَّهُ فِيهِمْ خَيْرًا لَاسْمَعَهُمْ

Had Allah known of any good in them, He would indeed have made them listen. (8;23)

Allah said,

حَتَّى إِذَا جَأوُوكَ يُجَادِلُونَكَ

to the point that when they come to you to argue with you...

using falsehood against truth,

يَقُولُ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُواْ إِنْ هَذَا إِلاَّ أَسَاطِيرُ الَاوَّلِينَ



those who disbelieve say;"These are nothing but tales of the men of old."

The disbelievers say, what you (O Muhammad) brought us was taken from the books of those who were before us, meaning plagiarized